"Martin Riddle" wrote in message
...
Only for OTC drugs, ' unless a prescription is obtained'.
Hey get a prescription. Doctor shopping for Tylenol anyone?

What I wonder is whether or not your typical doctor will write you a
prescription for your various OTC drugs just based on, e.g., a single-visit
with $20 co-pay or whatever... or in the case of folks who are paying for the
complete doctors visit, $100 if they're lucky!... vs. wanting to take a
complete medical history, run some of their own tests, etc. -- all at a
not-at-all-cheap price.

Indeed, I think that -- at least by dollars spent -- the largest chunk of HSAs
has historically gone to OTC drugs, and this change is not at all in the
consumer's best interest. It sounds more like the thing some prescription
drug company lobbyists would have pushed for, knowing that if you're going to
have to see a doctor for OTC drug prescriptions, even if something like
Sudafed has traditionally worked reasonably well for you, you'll be quite
likely to at least give some non-OTC drug a try due to figuring that, in
general, non-OTC drugs are more powerful and therefore perhaps better than the
OTC ones.

---Joel